You might be thrilled to start a new job or desperate to get away from your current one. However, you can’t forget to give your two weeks’ notice. Two weeks’ notice isn’t the law, but it is the recognized standard.[1] Remember to tell your boss first and other important people later. You may also need to draft a letter to Human Resources. Because you need to exit gracefully, leave negative comments at home and help other employees take over your workload.

Steps

Part 1

Telling People at Work

1

Tell your supervisor first. You don’t want your boss to hear through the grapevine that you are leaving.[2] Accordingly, they need to be the first person to know, even if your co-workers know that you have interviewed somewhere.

Unless you absolutely cannot stand your supervisor, you should meet in person. Keep your explanation simple and professional.[3] For example, you can say, “Mona, I’ve accepted a new job at ABC Corp. I wanted to let you know before everybody else. I start in two weeks.”

Be sure to say how much you’ve enjoyed working there, even if you don’t mean it. You never know when you’ll cross paths with your boss again.

2

Discuss how other team members will be told.[4] Before leaving your boss’ office, confirm who will tell the entire team. For example, your boss might want to send out a company-wide email. If so, negotiate when they will send it so you can tell some other people in person that you are leaving.

3

Set up a resignation letter. Typically, Human Resources needs something in writing stating you are leaving your job. Ask your boss who you should address your letter of resignation to.[5] Set up the letter like a standard business letter.

To make the letter easy to understand, state that you are resigning in the first sentence. For example: “I hereby resign as your Administrative Assistant on June 12, 2017.” This clarifies what the letter is about.

Also remember to express gratitude. Write something like, “I can’t thank you enough for giving me my first job out of college. I learned so much in the past three years that will be invaluable in my career.” Expressing gratitude helps you maintain a professional tone.

4

Complete your resignation letter. Your letter will be put in your personnel file, so you should think strategically about the information you want to include. For example, include the following:[6]

Context for any negative information in the file. For example, if a prior supervisor criticized you, you can write, “I’m particularly grateful for how supportive the company was during the rough transition after Marina left the company in 2015. My new supervisor, Kelly Smith, has been superb.”

Your personal phone number. Tell your boss they can call you if they have questions about how something needs to be done. This shows you remain committed to doing great work.

A warm goodbye. “Best wishes and warmest regards” or something similar should strike the right tone.

5

Tell co-workers in order of their importance to you. After telling your boss, you need to immediately start telling colleagues. Come up with a list in order of how important this person was to you. Close friends and mentors should be told first. You’ll need to rely on these relationships later, so you don’t want them to find out from other people.[7]

You can tell less important colleagues later, either in person or through an email.

6

Avoid sending a company-wide email. Some people blast the company in an email sent to everyone in the building, which is, needless to say, a terrible idea. It will follow you around to every new job where you work. Remember that your boss probably talks to other business owners, so word will get out about what you did. Furthermore, there’s tangible evidence in the form of the email, so you can’t deny it.

You should also avoid a company-wide email even if you are genuinely sad to leave. Often, these come across as sappy and insincere.[8]

A better approach is to thank people individually. Knock on their office door and talk to them for ten minutes. Express gratitude for having had the chance to work with them.

7

Give a consistent story. Everyone probably want to know where you are going and why you are leaving. They also will talk to each other. For these reasons, you should tell everyone the same story.[9]

For example, don’t tell your direct supervisor you are leaving for salary reasons and then your cube mate you’re leaving because you hate your direct supervisor.

You should also give a safe answer for why you are leaving. For example, you can claim that the new job has an easier commute or that it is a better fit with your career goals.[10] Make sure your reason is positive and that you don’t trash talk your employer.

Part 2

Leaving Gracefully

1

Finish large projects. The worst thing you can do is dump a heap of work on the person hired to replace you (or on colleagues left behind). Accordingly, make sure that you finish up any large projects before you leave.

Another option is to time your exit just right. Finish large projects and then give your two weeks’ notice.

Also remember not to take on any new large projects during your remaining days. Instead, volunteer to find someone else who can jump in.

2

Provide detailed instructions. If you can’t finish all your big projects ahead of time, then leave instructions for your boss about how to complete the project. Identify who on the current team can complete tasks until a new person is hired to replace you.[11]

Identify every project you are working on currently and explain what needs to be done.

You might need to offer very detailed instructions if no one on the team knows how to complete certain tasks. Also repeat that you are available by phone if someone needs to contact you.

3

Offer to work a little longer, if possible. Two weeks might not be enough time for you to finish up important tasks and get other people up to speed. Furthermore, people in more senior positions need to give more than two weeks because of the complexity of their jobs. If possible, be flexible and tell your employer you can stay longer.[12]

Generally, the amount of notice you need to give should be equivalent to the number of vacation weeks you earn in a year.[13] Accordingly, someone who gets four vacation weeks should probably give four weeks’ notice.

If you can’t work longer, offer to train a replacement if they’re hired in time.[14]

4

Approach an exit interview warily. Some employers will hound you to do an exit interview. These interviews are supposed to be completely confidential, but often they aren’t. Instead, if you vent about anyone in the company, word could get back to them and now you’ve made an enemy.[15] The safest option is to decline an exit interview, if possible.

If you do participate in the exit interview, offer only light constructive criticism. For example, your boss might have been too involved with team members’ personal lives. In that situation, you can say, “Karen really cared about her team, but sometimes she cared so much that she probed into people’s personal lives. I think she had the best intentions, and otherwise she was a great boss.”

Always remember to swamp any criticism you make with praise.

5

Leave the office immediately, if requested. Your boss might not let you work two more weeks. Instead, as soon as you give your resignation you may be shown the door. In that situation, leave without putting up a fuss. Smile at everyone on your way out and keep your chin up.[16]

This “perp walk” sometimes happens when you quit to work for a competitor or your boss thinks you might be disruptive.

To prepare for the perp walk, gather your personal belongings ahead of time so that they are in a box you can take with you. Research ahead of time what you can take and what you can’t take.

If you used a company cell phone for personal matters, make sure you’ve removed the personal material before turning over the phone.

6

Speak positively about your employer in the future. You should never bad mouth a previous employer, even after you’ve left the position. Only speak positively about your colleagues, boss, and the company itself.[17]

Try to maintain the same story to explain why you left. If you told your boss you left for more advancement opportunities, then that should be your story for the future.

Part 3

Keeping in Touch

1

Create social media profiles. Although you’re leaving a job, you don’t want to completely sever all relationships. Nowadays, most people stay in touch through social media. Create a LinkedIn or Google+ profile.

If you already have profiles, make sure they are updated to reflect your new job.[18]

2

Schedule dinners or lunches to stay in touch. You should have a face-to-face meeting with important colleagues and mentors about two months after you leave.[19] This will allow you to catch up and continue your relationship into the future.

Remember not to gossip, even though you no longer work at the company.

3

Continue mentoring relationships. Mentoring doesn’t end when you leave a company. Instead, your mentor can continue to advise you about your career long after you’ve moved on. Schedule regular meetings. You can also join professional organizations where you might get to work side-by-side with your mentor.

You should also maintain relationships with any mentees. At some point, they will move up in the profession and be at a point where they can help you in your own career. Accordingly, you want to maintain these relationships.